


A Strange New World

by TheDoctorIsIcecube



Series: Of Discovery And Strife [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amnesia, Gen, No Spoilers, Panic Attacks, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 16:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10644075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/TheDoctorIsIcecube
Summary: Link wakes up in a new world with no memories and nothing but a voice in his head to explain what's going on. The problem is, said voice isn't very good at explaining anything.





	

“Open your eyes.” There was a voice, a female voice, light and...young? Her voice was young, but he wasn’t sure how he knew that. “Wake up.” It was strange to hear it, too strange. It wasn’t coming from any source he could distinguish. He sat up, mumbling under his breath at the sudden realisation that he had apparently been lying in a pool of water. He raised a hand to his head, wondering if he’d just dreamed that girl’s voice. “Oh! No, I- hang on a moment.” She sounded a little flustered now. He had no idea what was going on.

As the voice faded for a moment, he looked around himself. It was dark in here, and the walls glowed with a faint light. The water he had been lying in started to drain away, but what he could see was glowing brightly. Now that he thought about it, it was rather cold in here. He looked down at himself,and immediately realised why. All he was wearing was a pair of underpants, and they were soaked by the water.

‘What’s going on?’ He wondered, definitely not expecting an answer from the girl. He’d almost forgotten about her through his confusion.

“I don’t really know,” her voice told him. “I didn’t expect it to happen like this, but don’t worry, Link. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” The problem was that the girl sounded worried, and also it seemed like she could see him. And he was basically naked.

“Where are you?” The sound of his own voice echoed in the strange glowing chamber. He got no response. Frowning, he tried again, this time thinking the question as hard as he could. Maybe the girl was just in his head. That was a worrying thought. 

“I’m just in your head,” she said. She sounded very unsure of what she was saying. That wasn’t good. “Geographically, I’m in the city centre, just a couple miles or so out from where you are at the moment.”

‘How do I get out of here? Who are you? Who am I?’ The girl had referred to him as Link earlier, so perhaps that was his name? It held a vague hint of familiarity for him, although he could hardly place where from.

“Hey, no, don’t worry, calm down,” the girl said, starting to sound panicked. That just made him even more fearful. “I’m Zelda, please stop worrying. People will probably come and get you as soon as they know you’re awake. Please calm down.” Her last statement was very quiet.

Zelda. That again was familiar in some way, though he had no idea how, and now he had a name for the voice. ‘What people? Who are these people?’ Link crossed over to the nearest wall, searching for a way out hidden in the smooth rock. Nothing. The room was completely empty.

“I don’t know who will find out and check first. Maybe they’ll all come at once and fight over who gets to see you first.” She paused for a moment. “Sorry, I’m not very good at explaining this. I never got a chance to think about it.”

‘Who’s coming? Zelda, who’s coming to get me?’ Looking around, Link still couldn’t see a way that anyone could get in here and break him out. It was all just stone walls and some faintly glowing, broken-looking pillar in the corner.

“I don’t know, not until they arrive. Just be suspicious, please, and don’t take what they say at face value. None of the people who are looking for you want to help you unless it helps them achieve their own ends.” Fuck. Fuck this was really bad and Link didn’t understand what was going on. Why was he in a puddle of glowing goo? Why was it so dark and why couldn’t he remember who he was? Why was there a girl talking in his head? Why were people trying to manipulate him? “I can hear you swearing in your head, Link.” The girl- Zelda- sounded a little amused by that, despite the situation. “Please, try and stay calm. Explore a little if that will help. Now that you’re awake, it likely won’t be more than an hour before someone comes for you.”

‘But what are they going to do to me? Can’t you help? Won’t I run out of oxygen in here? I’m completely sealed in and it’s really dark I don’t think I can get out.’ His chest was starting to hurt but he couldn’t tell if it was because he was running out of air already. He was breathing too quickly because he was scared, which probably meant he was using up his oxygen even more and that just made him even more afraid.

“I don’t mean to alarm you any further, but you’ve already been in there for a very long time. You are definitely not going to run out of oxygen, Link.” Zelda sounded very sure about that, which helped a little. But he was still stuck in a cave. And he’d been in here a long time. How long had he been here?

‘How long?’ He asked. He didn’t know what he looked like, but if he was about to discover that he was an old man then he wasn’t sure how he’d react. He was already utterly terrified. Had he wasted most of his life asleep? That would be a loss even though he didn’t remember it. He was sure that any answer would upset him now, though. He was starting to feel slightly lightheaded.

“About a hundred years, according to my father. But it’s not as bad as it sounds. You- you shouldn’t have aged a day. Can you find a place to see your reflection? You should look about seventeen or eighteen years old, but I haven't seen the documents myself.”

‘A hundred? Fuck fuck fuck what is going on? Are you trying to trick me? Are you here, just watching me? This isn’t funny.’ He could tell he was panicking really badly, and the knowledge that he was supposedly over a hundred years old was not a comfort.

“No, I’m not watching you. Where would I be watching you from, Link? You are in a stone room with no way out until someone lets you out.” Zelda sounded like she was starting to get a little bit stressed, which really wasn’t good. If she was stressed, that probably meant something was going wrong. Maybe no one was coming to get him and he’d be here forever. “No, no, you’ll be fine, if no one gets you soon I’ll ask my father to check on you.”

‘Your father?’ He asked, but he received no answer, just a mild buzzing in the back of his head that really, really hurt. It was just a mess of feelings, mostly fear, that made him feel even worse than before. ‘Zelda?’ Nothing. Link swore out loud, his voice echoing around the chamber. Maybe she had just been imagined, and now he was alone with his thoughts, still locked in a cave. Underground. Maybe his air really was running out and that was why he’d heard a girl’s voice. ‘Zelda, I’m afraid.’

It had been a bad idea to admit that so openly. Before, he’d been freaking out, but there was an edge of optimism to it. If he thought that he was scared then Zelda would explain it, even if she hadn’t been very good at explaining in detail that made him actually understand. But now he was alone and scared. What if there really were people coming for him? How would they feel, if they saw him like this? Would they kill him on the spot?

“Sorry!” Zelda’s voice burst back into his mind in a rush, sounding oddly out of breath for someone who was just in his head. “You have my apologies, Link. I was just getting somewhere a little more private.” 

'What's going on?' He asked. He hoped that was enough to get an explanation that made sense because he was feeling a bit faint because of the panicking. 'Who am I? Why am I here, and why can't I remember anything?'

Zelda said nothing for a moment, long enough to make Link worry that she had disappeared again. But then he heard her voice, sounding like she was trying very hard to stay calm. "I can't explain, Link. I don't fully know myself. Do you like poetry?"

'What?' He didn't understand. 'You know me more than I do. I don't know if I like poetry, I didn't even know my own name until you told me. Please explain something and then we can find out if I like poetry.'

"I can't explain things, and if people are coming for you, it might be best that you don't know much yet," Zelda said firmly. "I'm going to read you poetry until you're picked up."

Link tried not to panic at what she was saying, but through it all he sort of understood, even if it didn't make him any less scared. She was reading him poetry because if he had knowledge of what was going on and someone arrived, expecting him to have no idea, then they'd be suspicious when he knew things.

He just sighed, and sat down, tapping his feet against the floor. Zelda started reading something to him, a poem that sounded rather odd but was at least capable of keeping him distracted. The poem went on, and then it ended and Zelda just started with another one. The next one was about dogs, and then the next one was about the sea. Eventually, the fear started to leave and he could think clearly again. He was still scared, of course, but now he felt a little more rational. It was clear now that he wasn't running out of air, and that Zelda wasn't just in his head. As weird as all of this was, he could deal with it. Link had had his eyes fixed on part of the rock that seemed a little different to the rest- he had a feeling that was how this place was supposed to open.

Zelda went quiet for a few moments in the middle of a poem, but he managed to not worry too much. She was probably doing something. "My father just contacted me," she said. "His people are about ten minutes away from where you are now and they're coming to get you out of there. They're a bit thuggish, but if you're polite they won't dare hurt you."

'Right.' Link bit his lip, glaring harder at the slightly off-colour patch of rock. 'Who's your father? Is there anything else I should know?'

"My father is a prominent...did you have politicians?"

'I wouldn't know, but I don't remember knowing the word,' he thought, though if Zelda was questioning it, he probably hadn't had politicians.

"Like, I don't know, a bit like a king? You had a king before you went to sleep, but Hyrule doesn't have one anymore," Zelda said. "My father is the leader of a group of people who organise what happens, the laws and such."

'I see.' He didn't see, not really. It all seemed rather complicated, though the mention of a king certainly sparked recognition. Before he had a chance to say more, though, there was a noise- a real noise, in real life, not made by him and definitely not in his head. 'Zelda, I think they're here. What should I do?'

"Be really confused," she said. "And do not, whatever you do, mention me or hearing me. We can use this to help and protect each other, but only if people don't know about it."

'Alright. Thank you.' Link mentally shut up then, adopting his best look of blank confusion and looking curiously towards the source of the noise. There was a sound- the scraping of stone on stone- and then the odd patch of rock started to slide.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a first chapter for two other fics that we're working on! These two fics are both a continuation of the first but they each have a different plot and cast of characters. (Basically, I had two ideas for how to continue this fic and decided I'd do both)
> 
> A few chapters for each are written, and I'll try and post them consecutively. They'll both be in the same series but there's no need to read both of them! The first focuses on Link and Zelda and mostly their characters and feelings, and the other focuses on Link and Sheikah culture. If anyone is interested, please let us know! There's lots of development and worldbuilding that has gone into this.
> 
> You can find my (Sam's) Tumblr at softbreathofthewild and my collab partner's (Em's) Tumblr at heroofthesheikah if you want to talk/ask questions and stuff!


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